Frost got burned out on apple picking, but he was more goal-directed than I was yesterday. My friend, being a very cool person, decided to celebrate her birthday with a party at a ranch in Petaluma.

Primarily, the ranch raises sustainable grass-fed beef, which works out to 75 cattle on the 500 acres. They also have goats and sheep and chickens. A small organic orchard is the source of the aforementioned apples in multiple varieties—yesterday’s pickables were Mollies Delicious. Tomatoes, sunflowers, pears, green beans, and roses also grow around the farmhouse, some for picking, others for farm use.

We were there for hours and I was the only adult who did not bring my own kids, which meant I had plenty of other people’s kids to play with. Look! A cat sleeping under an apple tree, head pillowed on a windfall! Look! A chicken feather! Look! Hay bales to climb! With shed snakeskin scattered on top!

In the end, I came home with a couple of pounds of apples and a sunburn. I should do it more often.